The Summer Of Omarosa

I guess it’s a good thing that nothing is happening with the Mueller investigation, the Manafort trial or the wildfires that are charring California. Oh wait. How would we know?

It’s the summer of Omarosa.

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For those of you living in the wilderness somewhere without access to any form of print or electronic media, Omarosa is the celebrity who came to fame during the Apprentice and then rode that horse to a senior position in the Trump White House. Now she is out with a book, Unhinged, that has the talking gasbags on cable news and elsewhere wetting their shorts and panties.

Hey. Who says this isn’t a great country?

And for all I know, Omarosa might be a sweet, caring lady who only has the country’s best interest at heart.

Still, I wonder if the day Omarosa took the White House job she began plotting how she could best leverage her exit? After all, that seems to be the culture for those who can successfully navigate the swamp inside the beltway.

A few thoughts on this fiasco:

Listening to the interviews with Omarosa is a waste of time. Even if what she is saying is credible (a big if) there is nothing that she can reveal that will change anyone’s view of the Prez. He was elected in part by the reality TV circus of an election that was created in large part by the same so-called journalists and out-of-government-but-waiting-to-return pundits who now spend their days slamming Trump. The time to really challenge Trump on his views and positions was prior to election day 2016, but the media folks for the most part gave him a pass because he made for good TV.  And when you elect a clown,  you have to expect a circus. In this regard, Trump did not disappoint.

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Second, even for the reporters who openly dislike Trump and the Republicans, this must be a tough story to cover. American journalism has never been “fair and balanced,” but sitting down for a conversation with Omarosa must make even the most ratings conscious scribbler gag a little while keeping a barf bag hidden under the desk.

Even the generally likable Savannah Guthrie looked like she had just downed a shit sandwich after Omarosa basically told her to shove it where the sun don’t shine during an interview on the Today show this morning.

Omarosa Manigault-Newman appeared irritable and fumed at Savannah Guthrie before abruptly cutting off an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show on Monday morning, claiming she had another interview to get to minutes after proclaiming, “I’ve got all the time you need.”

Manigault-Newman was on the morning show to share a recording of a conversation she says she had with President Trump the day after she was fired by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Guthrie began the interview by playing the recording and plugging Manigault-Newman’s new book, “Unhinged,” but things quickly turned awkward.

Guthrie asked the former “Apprentice” star if Trump was lying in a tape that was played seconds earlier, but Manigault-Newman wanted to talk about a different topic and started asking rhetorical questions about why Kelly allegedly mistreated her. She also focused on Trump saying “they” run a big operation at the White House.

Guthrie tried to take charge of the chat, but Manigault-Newman barked back, “I’ll get to the second part.”

Guthrie then attempted to ask a follow-up question, but Manigault-Newman shot it down.

If you missed this interview, don’t worry. NBC’s farm team, MSNBC, will be replaying it every hour for the next few days.

Fortunately, for those of us who would like to know what is going on in the world these days, the summer of Omarosa will only last a few days.

Until then, remember that we are living in a time when reality television stars and celebrities dominate the news cycles and control pretty much the national conversation on just about any issue.

So it goes.

 

Published by

Rob Jewell

I’m Rob Jewell and I live and write in Woodland Park, Colorado, the City Above the Clouds. I've been fortunate. I worked for 29 years at BFGoodrich in Akron, Ohio. I started editing employee publications and ended as vice president of corporate communications. Then I started a public relations consulting company before becoming a full-time faculty member in the School of Journalism at Kent State University. I taught courses in writing, public relations and mass communication ethics. And I supervised a student-run public relations firm, called Flash Communications. During my tenure at Kent State I was honored to receive the university’s Outstanding Teaching Award. During most of this time I've been a dedicated runner. OK, jogger, if you take speed into consideration. But while my times are not much to write about, I was and am committed. For almost 30 years I ran at least 1,000 miles each year. (Except for one year when I tore my calf muscle playing tennis. So much for tennis.) Being on the road most mornings at 5 a.m. gave me some time to think. It also led to some amazing friendships that now span more than three decades. And my longtime love affair with running helped me shape my first novel, Then We Ran, which is available wherever electronic books are sold. And just so you don't think that all I did was work and run, I have other interests as well, many centering on family. My wife, Mary, was a successful and highly regarded career teacher in the Akron public schools. She now devotes her time and energy to a host of social and athletic activities in Woodland Park. My son, Brian, teaches at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs where he is also the head soccer coach. And my daughter, Jessica, has completed her doctorate at Kent State University where she is also an administrator with the Wick Poetry Center. I've done a lot of writing during my career -- but Jessica is the real writer in the family. I'll try not to make too many errors in this blog. I'm sure she'll be watching.

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